Pirates prep for Wainwright, Cardinals in NLDS

St. Louis Cardinals' Matt Carpenter handles a grounder during baseball practice Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013, in St. Louis. The Cardinals are set to host Game 1 of the NL division series Thursday, Oct. 3, against the winner of the NL wild-card game between the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez fields a ball during a workout in Busch Stadium, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013, in St. Louis. Game 1 of the National League Division Series baseball playoff between the between the Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals is scheduled for Thursday. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

ST. LOUIS — The Pittsburgh Pirates are riding high after their first postseason victory in 21 years. They’re confident they can beat anybody, anywhere.

A few hours after defeating Cincinnati in the NL wild-card game Tuesday night, the Pirates touched down in St. Louis. They’re about to face another familiar foe in an unfamiliar month when they take on the NL Central champion Cardinals in a best-of-five division series.

A.J. Burnett, set to start the series opener Thursday, was a part of three New York Yankees teams that made it to October. He said Wednesday there’s a sense of euphoria with this experience that was lacking before.

“I guess the main thing is, over in New York, it’s expected every year, you know?” Burnett said. “You tend to get in there a couple of weeks before the season ends. And this one was more of a ‘Shock the world, we’re going to do it, we made it!’”

The Pirates won the season series 10-9, but the Cardinals overtook them for the division lead with a four-game sweep at home in early September. St. Louis also has quite an advantage in postseason experience, with several holdovers from the 2011 World Series championship team and from last year, too, when St. Louis fell one win shy of a second straight pennant.

The Cardinals earned some time off after winning six in a row to end the season. They won their first NL Central crown since 2009 and secured home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs.

Their .330 average with runners in scoring position was the majors’ best dating to 1974, when the statistic was first used. So far, they’ve done fine without injured Allen Craig, who missed almost all of September and isn’t expected back from a left mid-foot sprain until at least the NL championship series.

“We played really well most of the year minus a couple of dips here and there that every team has,” said Matt Holliday, who batted .378 over the final month to finish at .300. “I’d say, just try to roll that momentum into the postseason.”

Adam Wainwright has to like this matchup, too. St. Louis’ ace will pitch the opener and would also be available on full rest for a possible deciding Game 5. He went 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in three starts against Pittsburgh this season.

Wainwright (19-9, 2.94 ERA) got rocked for 15 runs over eight innings in consecutive starts against the Reds. One of them he labeled, “the worst start of my career,” before rebounding in the win that put the Cardinals in first place to stay. He was 4-0 in his final five starts, working seven or more innings in all of them except for a tuneup his last time out.

“Well, aside from Clayton Kershaw this year, I’d argue that you could look at any single pitcher in the history of the game and they’re going to have a bad game or two in the course of 35 starts,” Wainwright said.

“I didn’t need to do anything different. I just had a bad day.”

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny described Wainwright, the third pitcher in franchise history to lead the league in wins twice, as a “fierce competitor.”

“All in all, a Cy Young-caliber season,” Matheny said. “We’re not afraid to put him on the mound against anybody.”

Burnett (10-11, 3.30 ERA) is 3-1 with a 3.67 ERA in his career against the Cardinals, but the last time he faced them he gave up five runs in three innings — his shortest outing of the year. In two appearances at Busch Stadium, he allowed 12 runs in 13 1-3 innings.

“It’s just execution, that’s all it is,” Burnett said. “It’s a great lineup over there. You can’t make too many mistakes because they’ll capitalize on them.

“The good ones I have limited those and the ones that got me, I haven’t been able to execute.”

The Cardinals haven’t announced a starter after Lance Lynn, who will face rookie Gerrit Cole in Game 2 on Friday. Matheny has three strong candidates in Joe Kelly and rookies Shelby Miller and Michael Wacha. The manager said Miller and Wacha would be available in the bullpen for Game 1.

Miller led all rookies with 15 wins this year, Wacha was one out shy of a no-hitter in his final regular-season start and Kelly was 10-5 with a 2.69 ERA.

Hurdle said Francisco Liriano, the winner in the wild-card game, will start Game 3 on Sunday in Pittsburgh.